Trash bag support and liner

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a simple and inexpensive removable trash bag support and liner. The liner of the present invention is a single, generally rectangular piece of plastic, preferably about 1/16″ thick, about 32″ high, and with a width (which becomes the perimeter) about 68″. Also, the liner may have several hand holes near its upper and lower edges to facilitate lifting it out of the bag when the bag is full of debris. Also, the liner has a temporary locking mechanism for holding it in a set cylindrical position. When the lock is engaged, the bag liner may be set in a self-standing manner for its edge, and an empty garbage bag easily placed over the liner. Then, when the liner and bag are inverted to the upright position, releasing the locking mechanism lets the liner automatically expand to fit tightly within the plastic bag. Preferably, the locking mechanism is a combination tab near an outside edge of the liner, and a cooperating open slit near the center of the liner, for example, about 41″ toward the center and away from the tab.

[0001] This application claims priority from prior pending provisional application Ser. No. 60/261,378 filed on Jan. 12, 2001, with the same title, incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates generally to trash bags, and more specifically to removable flexible liners for supporting trash bags in the open, upright position.

[0004] 2. Related Art

[0005] There have been many versions of trash bag supports and liners. For example:

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,08 alexander) discloses a debris collection receptacle with an open cylindrical base with a handle on one side, and semi-cylindrical scraper tray extending upwardly from the other side. A plastic garbage bag is carried outside of the cylindrical base and retained on it by frictional engagement between the handle and base and tray and base.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,778 (Bole) discloses a smooth liner sheet having interconnected vertical panels that are freely swingable toward and away from one another.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,011 (Rylander) discloses a flexible bag holder with a body of normally flat planar configuration, but enough memory characteristics for springing radially outwardly to form one cylindrical configuration, and for returning to normal flat planar configuration.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,609 (Tobin) discloses a flexible bag support with a substantially rigid, flat back panel, and two foldably connected side panel members.

[0010] U.S. Design Pat. No. 361,185 (Seiler, et al.) discloses an ornamental design for a bag support insert which is a series of alternating, vertically-foldable panels which also have a horizontal fold line near their tops.

[0011] Still there is a need for a very simple and inexpensive removable trash bag support and liner. This invention addresses that need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The present invention is a simple and inexpensive removable trash bag support and liner. The liner of the present invention is a single, generally rectangular piece of plastic, preferably about {fraction (1/16)}″ thick, about 32″ high, and with a width (which becomes the perimeter) about 68″. The corners of the rectangular plastic piece may optionally be rounded for comfort and safety during handling. Also, the liner may have several hand holes near its upper and/or lower edges to facilitate lifting it out of the bag when the bag is fall of debris. Also, the liner has a temporary locking mechanism for holding it in a set cylindrical position. When the lock is engaged, the bag liner may be set in a self-standing manner on either its top or bottom edge, and an empty garbage bag easily placed over the liner. Then, when the liner and bag are inverted to the upright position, releasing the locking mechanism lets the liner automatically unroll and expand to fit tightly within the plastic bag. Preferably, the locking mechanism is a combination of a tab near an outside edge of the liner, and a cooperating open slit near the center of the liner, for example, about 41″ toward the center and away from the tab. This way, a simple and inexpensive removable trash bag support and liner is provided by the present invention. away from the tab. This way, a simple and inexpensive removable trash bag support and liner is provided by the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1A is a top, plan view of one embodiment of the liner of the present invention laying flat in a fully opened position.

[0014]FIG. 1B is a side view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1A.

[0015]FIG. 2A is a top, plan view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, but in the upright, fully closed and temporarily locked, position.

[0016]FIG. 2B is a side elevational view of the position depicted in FIG. 2A.

[0017]FIG. 3A is a side, perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B, but in the inverted, upside-down, partially-opened position with a garbage bag placed over it.

[0018]FIG. 3B is a side, perspective view of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3A, but in the re-inverted, upright fully opened position with the garbage bag frictionally held on the liner's outside surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Referring to the Figures, there is depicted one, but not the only, embodiment 10 of the trash bag support and liner of the present invention. Liner 10 is a single, generally rectangular piece of plastic, preferably about {fraction (1/16)}″ thick. Liner 10 preferably has a height (H) of about 32″, and a width (W) (which becomes the perimeter when the liner is rolled up) of about 68″. The comers of the generally rectangular plastic piece may optionally be rounded for comfort and safety during handling. Preferably, liner 10 is manufactured so that both side edges have a slight built-in curl as depicted in FIG. 1B. This way, the side edges will tend to curl inwardly, and wrap around themselves when they are rolled up to be placed inside the bag. This prevents them from forming a “tear drop” shape, or a “T” intersection shape which interfere when they are attempted to be rolled up.

[0020] Preferably, liner 10 has several hand holes 12, 12′ near its upper edge (T) to facilitate lifting the liner out of the bag when the bag is full of debris. Also, liner 10 may have several hand holes 13, 13′ near its lower edge (B). This way, the liner may be placed in the bay while standing on either its upper (T) or lower (B) edge. Typically, the hand holes are about 1¼″ high and about 4″ wide, and are located with their top edge being about 1½″ in from the upper and lower edges of liner 10.

[0021] Liner 10 has temporary locking mechanism 14, 14′ for holding it in a set cylindrical position. Preferably, the locking mechanism has tab 14 which pivots within partially cut-out section 16, and cooperating slot 14′ created by completely cut-out section 16′. Tab 14 is adapted to fit snugly within slot 14′. This way, when locking mechanism 14, 14′ is engaged, liner 10 is temporarily held in a partially-opened, rolled-up position, as depicted in FIGS. 2A & 2B.

[0022] To use the present invention, liner 10, with locking mechanism 14, 14′ engaged, and therefore when held in the partially-opened, rolled-up position. Then, a trash bag 18 is placed over liner 10, with the open top 20 of trash bag 18 being on the ground, as depicted in FIG. 3A. Then, the liner 10 and bag 18 are inverted together, and locking mechanism 14, 14′ is released, allowing liner 10 to unroll completely and expand to fit snugly within the inside surface of bag 18. This way, the combination of liner 10 in its fully-opened position inside bag 18 and bag 18 is self supporting in the convenient, open position for receiving debris.

[0023] When bag 18 is full of debris, one simply pulls liner 10 out from the inside of bag 18, and ties up and discards bag 18. Liner 10 is conveniently releasable.

[0024] Liner 10 may be used with plastic or paper bags of many different sizes. The liner with the dimensions described on page 2, for example, will work best for conventional 39-gallon plastic bags. The liner size may be adapted as necessary or convenient to fit other sized bags. 

I claim:
 1. A trash bag support and liner, comprising: a single, generally rectangular piece of plastic, and a temporary locking mechanism for holding the bag support and liner in a set cylindrical position, the locking mechanism comprising a tab integral with the single piece of plastic, and a cooperating open slit in the single piece of plastic.
 2. The bag support and liner of claim 1 which also comprises a hand hole near an edge of the piece of plastic.
 3. The bag support and liner of claim 1 which also comprises hand holes near two edges of the piece of plastic.
 4. The bag support and liner of claim 1 wherein the locking mechanism tab is near an edge of the piece of plastic, and the cooperating slit is near the center of the piece of plastic. 